Professor Henry French
Head of History, Professor
BA, PhD Cantab., FRHistS
Extension: 4184
Telephone: 01392 724184
I am interested in the following research subjects:
- The identity and composition of the ‘middle sort of people’ in provincial England 1620-1750. I have published a number of articles on this subject in Past & Present, Social History and Historical Journal, and have written a monograph study, published by Oxford University Press in July 2007.
- (in association with Prof. R.W. Hoyle, of the University of Reading) land ownership in Essex and Lancashire, concentrating particularly on the decline of the small farmer, 1500-1800. We have published several articles on this theme, including one in Economic History Review in 2004, and have published a monograph on the land market in the Essex village of Earls Colne, 1500-1750, with Manchester U.P. in March 2007.
- My new area of research interest is in long-term processes of change in notions of masculinity among the landed elite in England, between the later seventeenth and early twentieth centuries, and I have recently been awarded an AHRC standard research grant to pursue this research, which will result in a monograph authored with Dr. Mark Rothery (Exeter), to be published by Oxford University Press in March 2012.
- I am also writing a more general study of the social order of England, entitled 'The Social Order of England, 1600-1800', which has been commissioned by Palgrave Macmillan in their Social History in Perspective series. This will be published in 2014.
- Urban common field agriculture and the effects of enclosure 1550-1800, on which I have written two articles in the Agricultural History Review 2001 & 2003; I have also published a chapter on urban commons in R. W. Hoyle (ed.), Custom, Improvement and the Landscape in Early Modern Britain (Ashgate, 2011).
- Research into the politics of the small, pocket-borough of Clitheroe, in the period 1660 to 1780, which has been published in Northern History.
- Research into poor relief payments and their effects on the household economy of families, particularly in Terling, Essex in the later eighteenth century. This will be published in S. Hindle, A. Shepard & J. Walter (eds), Remaking English Society: Social Relations and Social Change in Early Modern England (Boydell & Brewer, 2012).
- The Hearth Tax and distribution of wealth in Essex 1662-85, to be published in the British Record Society Hearth Tax Series.
My undergraduate teaching includes modules on:
- HIH 1210 The Making of Britain 1500-1750 - [Perspective] Survey course in British political and economic & social history in the early modern period.
- HIH 1521 Marriage & The Family, 1500-1800 - [Sources & Skills] module on the experience of marriage and family life in early modern England.
- HIH 2107 Crime and Society in England, 1500-1800 [Option] - on the relationship between types of crime and society in early modern England, particularly the link between ordinary people and the legal process, and crime in popular literature.
- HIH 3240 The Social Order of England, 1500-1750 [Variety] - examining the ways in which contemporaries understood the social order and hidden aspects of the language they used to describe it.
- HIH 3137-8 [Special Subject] Life in an English Village, Earls Colne, 1450-1750 - an in depth look at life in an Essex village using a large collection of electronic sources, allowing detailed insights into the experience of daily life in the past.
This is what students have said about my teaching in 2010-11:
"Firstly, there has been innovative teaching in lectures. This is because there is a high quality powerpoint which summarises the points that are being made. In addition, the lectures are supplemented by links on ELE to other primary sources such as the Old Bailey and Earls Colne. Secondly, the seminars are innovative as we have to do individual presentations in the first half of the seminar and we then do work on gobbets in the second half. This helps improve our skills and will help in the examination."
"Having 15-20 minute individual presentations in the seminars help us to learn a particular topic in depth as we are either doing the research or listening to other people doing the research."A high quality Powerpoint presentation makes it easier to follow lectures and is a useful point of reference when we come back to revision."
"A high quality Powerpoint presentation makes it easier to follow lectures and is a useful point of reference when we come back to revision."
"On the ELE site there are links to over 10,000 primary sources. These have varied from court cases to contemporary literature. These links make it very helpful to do research for essays, presentations and for revision."
